Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis suffered his first injury scare of the 2024 Olympics for Team USA in the big win over South Sudan on Wednesday. He hurt his ankle on an awkward collision with former Lakers teammate Wenyen Gabriel, but was able to return to the game.
Davis has struggled with injuries over his past few seasons with the Lakers. His 2023-24 campaign was among the healthiest of his career, though, after three consecutive injury-riddled seasons in L.A. It’s that health that allowed him to compete in these Olympics to begin with.
And after the game, Davis had absolutely no concerns about his ankle moving forward. It appeared to be just a tweak and not something that should cause any long-term issues, according to Ben Golliver of The Washington Post:
USA's Anthony Davis said he was "100 percent" after appearing to tweak his ankle getting tangled up with former Lakers teammate Wenyen Gabriel.
Davis joked: "Wenyen being Wenyen. He's my guy. I was falling and he came down too and just kind of stepped on my foot."— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 31, 2024
Davis is always going to have some concern with injuries, given the way that they have affected his career. However, he has proven that — when needed — he can fight through injuries and does not have nearly the same issues as some of the league’s other injury-prone players.
His history is what causes this type of concern whenever he tweaks an ankle or suffers anything minor during a game. But he, like many other players in the NBA, can have a minor tweak and be just fine after. When Team USA takes on Puerto Rico in the final group stage game, Davis is expected to be right back in the mix.
South Sudan represented Davis’ first start with Team USA this summer, but it’s unlikely head coach Steve Kerr is going to keep that moving forward with him saying Joel Embiid will return to the lineup against Puerto Rico. Team USA faces Puerto Rico on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 8:15 a.m. PT.
Anthony Davis & Team USA clinch spot in quarterfinals
By beating South Sudan on Wednesday, the United States has earned enough points in the group stage to clinch their place in the quarterfinals regardless of result against Puerto Rico on Saturday. Lakers stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James have been pivotal for Team USA up to this point and will continue to be as they go for gold next week.
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